


The Siren and the Itamae

by Eramia



Category: League of Legends
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Merpeople, Creation Myth, F/F, Falling In Love, Medium Burn, Sloppy Makeouts
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-09
Updated: 2019-05-20
Packaged: 2019-10-25 06:52:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 12,900
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17720255
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Eramia/pseuds/Eramia
Summary: Akali, an up-and-coming sashimi chef, hears that fishermen down at the wharf have brought in the biggest catch and rushes down to the auction house to see for herself, but she isn't prepared for what she finds, nor what to do next.





	1. Part I - Escape

**Author's Note:**

  * For [freelandish](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=freelandish).



Few romances are as ironic as the one between a mermaid and a sashimi chef. Then again, many say that when opposites attract their bond is stronger than any other. And so, the same goes for the Siren and the Itamae.

The Itamae’s daily routine always began with the search for fresh fish, at the crack of dawn, when the fisherman are just arriving with their catches of the day. Most of the time she is there as soon as the merchants begin setting up their stands, browsing the rows and rows of market stalls just as the fish hit the ice.

While there are many who gag at the thought of standing among hundreds of pounds raw fish so early in the morning, the chef would say you get used to the smell. She claims to even looking forward to it the moment she wakes up most days. She’s usually one of the first shoppers in the market, besides one or two other ambitious itamae like her or old ladies who refuse to break tradition and years of discipline. Usually. This morning the stalls are half-done and strangely empty. She finds one older merchant hastily securing their haul and asks them, “What’s the rush?”

“Akali!” they bellow, “How are ya?”

“I’m fine, but,” she glances around at the empty marketplace, its colors muted in the dim light, “the market, not so much.”

“Oh, you don’t need to worry about the market,” they laughed, waving a hand, “You won’t believe what was caught this morning!”

“Let me guess: a shark?” she replied coyly, crossing her arms across her chest. Occasionally when word gets out from the wharf that a shark has rolled in, the entire marketplace migrates like a flock of birds to the auction house. Whoever gets their hand on that fish tends to have a pretty successful day. While it rightfully riles up many merchants and chefs, shark is no good for sashimi. When people are busy bickering over the catch of the day Akali takes that time to have the marketplace to herself, picking out her own catch.

“Nope!” the merchant teases, “Even better!”

“Squid?” Damn, Akali curses herself, that would make some killer sashimi.

“Nuh-uh! Oh, I’ll just tell you.”

They gesture for Akali to move in closer and whisper with a crackling voice into her ear, “You didn’t hear it from me, but I overheard some fishermen at the wharf claiming that they caught a mermaid and are selling it right now at the auction house.”

Akali stood straight up. “A mermaid,” she echoed, bemused, “Haven’t heard that one before.”

“It’s true! I saw them reel her in; she put up quite a fight! You know that old coot in the stall across from me? Well, she claims that this mermaid put one of the dockhands in the hospital, and he’s poisoned! Some say, he was absolutely delusional afterwards, wouldn’t stop moaning about missing a woman named “Evelynn” and wanting to hear her sing.”

“Hold on, how could all of this have happened already? It’s barely dawn!”

“Go see for yourself! She’ll be there, I bet. Where do you think everybody else is?”

Akali had no doubt that everybody was at the auction house, but a mermaid? She was willing to humor the merchant, but not yet ready to believe in the whole mermaid spectacle. Needless to say when she arrived the crowd was spilling out the doors, clamoring over one another for a view of the catch. Seems like she wasn’t the only one who had to see it with their own eyes before taking any stance. No stranger to roughness, Akali shouldered her way in.

The mob was absolutely restless. She could recognize merchants talking with clientele, fishermen, elderly, the servants of the rich, all discussing the so-called mermaid. Friendly with many of them, Akali decided to interject on the conversation.

“Do you really believe that someone really caught a mermaid?” she asked. The stage was empty at the moment, leaving everyone tense and in suspense.

“Why, I’ll believe it when I see it,” her neighbor replied. They looked like somebody’s servant. “But if the rumor really is true, I am sure my master would love to have her!”

A merchant of wide girth barged in. “I’ll betcha she makes interestin’ sashimi, wouldn’t you say, ‘Kali?”

“Sashimi?!” the servant cried, “How crude! How could you eat such an exquisite creature?”

“Gotta agree with this dude on this one,” Akali told the merchant, hooking a thumb over at the flustered butler, “Hard to eat something that’s half human.”

“But half fish!” they shot back.

“Without a doubt, should I win the mermaid, there will be no consuming of her.”

“Thank you,” Akali agreed graciously.

“In fact, I’m willing to bet my master would joyously put her on display for all to witness at the estate!”

“I’m sorry, what?”

“‘E’s gonna make ‘er join the circus,” the merchant bluntly explained.

“Absolutely not!” the servant retorted, “My master’s menagerie is nowhere near as barbaric as a circus.”

“Well, I think yer wastin’ a perfectly good fish, right, ‘Kali? ‘Kali?”

In the short time they weren’t paying attention to her, she had disappeared deeper into the crowd, shoving her way to the front. “Jeez, I wish they could hear themselves,” she muttered under her breath, “Maybe they’d realize that they’re fucking insane.” As she forced herself onwards she heard many more conversations like the one she just had, all talks of eating or displaying the poor thing. In a room full of people willing to pay whatever it takes to own a truly unique and rare being, she felt like the only sane one there who realized that some things are never meant to be owned.

She only proved her point when the auctioneer and a dockhand rolled out on the stage, wheeling a lumpy figure covered in a purple tarp. The crowd lit up like sparks jumping from fireworks and Akali had to fight even harder to stay in view of the bidding prize.

A few taps of the gavel sent a hush over the only room in the auction house, but even the auctioneer couldn’t command complete silence over them. Some in the crowd still continued their conversations in quieter tones and so the auctioneer decided they had no choice but to talk over them. Tapping their gavel on the wooden podium again and clearing their throat, they began to announce: “A creature like this surely needs no introduction. Her voice is miraculous, but she is far from angelic as countless stranded sailors can tell you. Behold...the Siren!”

The dockhand whisked the tarp away with a grandiose flourish, sending the auction house into a frenzy. Like many others, Akali couldn’t believe her eyes. There she was, all coiled up in a tank too small to contain her. In comparison to the ocean, the tank she sat in was like a shot glass. It was one used for medium-large fish, the kind that take two hands to hold and display. It was most likely the largest one they had on hand.

Her fish-like tail and its accompanying spines hung out from one end and her head and arms from the other. The tank was barely deep enough to submerge her ribs where her gills flapped slowly, weakly. Her hair, which some said felt as rich as silk, hung tangled and matted, drying in the stale air. It clung to her face, her shoulders, her arms, gently cupping her exposed breasts. Her head was slumped to one side, facing the crowd with clouded eyes and softly parted lips. From her place up front, Akali could easily see that she was miles away.

The silence and awe of the crowd didn’t hold for long before the room erupted in complete and utter chaos. As more people began to shove and squirm for a closer look, Akali was just about ready to start a fight but decided it wasn’t worth it.

“She’s looking at me,” she heard someone cry behind her, “she’s looking right at me! It must be destiny! Ten thousand yen for her!”

“I hear ten thousand, do I hear eleven thousand?” the auctioneer announced, relishing the wild energy. It was very good for business.

Somewhere else in the crowd, “Eleven thousand, my good sir!”

“Eleven thousand! Do I hear twelve thousand?”

“Twelve thousand!”

There were no signs to raise, only voices, shouting numbers they could only hope to back up. Despite the attention she was getting, what bothered Akali even more was how easy it was to just sell her, unofficially, in a dockside auction house. As far as the merchants were concerned they were already starting off a bit expensive and she doubted that the servants would have much more, trust issues with their bosses and all. And this is how this mermaid was going to disappear, Akali thought grimly, consumed by a chorus of greed.

“Do I hear fourteen thousand?”

Akali slammed her fist down on the stage. “Twenty thousand yen,” she declared.

Some of the chaos settled then. Many of them knew they were out of their league already.

“Do I hear twenty-one thousand?” The auctioneer called. No voice called out. “Going once, going twice…”

“Twenty-one thousand!” someone called. Heads turned to a particular servant in the middle of the crowd. Akali looked over her shoulder in frustration.

“Do I hear twenty-two thousand?”

Barely thinking, Akali shouted, “Twenty-five thousand!”

A wave of stunned and indignant gasps washed over the crowd. The auction house had mostly settled then.

“Do I hear twenty-six thousand?” the auctioneer said carefully.

Heads turned back expectantly to the servant whose cheeks were growing redder. After a moment of consideration, he clicked his tongue in distaste and stormed out of the auction house.

“Going once...Going twice...Sold to the--”

Akali didn’t even wait for the auctioneer to finish announcing. In less than a second she had already leapt up onto the stage, rushing over to the tank. The mermaid, very slowly, turned her head to look at her. As she reached her arms into the tank, avoiding the spines along her tail, the mermaid’s eyes closed and her head slumped against her chest, all of this proving to be too overwhelming for her weakened body. Akali hugged her unconscious form tightly, supporting the mermaid’s lolling head in the crook of her neck as best as she could while she lifted her out of the tank. Water sloshed over her clothes and onto the stage, but that was the least of her concerns.

“Out of my way!” she cried. The crowd barely knew how to react as Akali made a running start for the edge of the stage, even the auctioneer was reeling but when she leapt, despite the weight, she seemed to fly. All the crowd could see was a shadow washing briefly over them before they scrambled away, crawling over each other in all directions like rats.

She hit the ground running and made directly for the docks just outside the auction house. Akali had an audience watching her now, a whole bunch of heads peeking out from behind the curtains.

“That’s it, ‘Kali!” somebody cheered, “Run with her! Make some real good sashimi for us!”

But she wasn’t intending on taking the mermaid to the chopping board.

Instead she kept sprinting toward the end of the pier, jostling the mermaid in her arms. “Wake up, wake up, wake up,” she urged. Her eyes didn’t even flutter, but they were approaching the edge quickly and in the auction house, some were catching on.

“Girl, what are you doing?! Get back here!” She didn’t listen, nor slow down.

Akali skid to a stop at the edge of the dock and, using her momentum, tossed the mermaid out in front of her. She whirled in the air for a moment, rather ungracefully, before flopping into the ocean. Kneeling down, she could see that she was sinking. “C’mon, move! Get out of here!” she shouted. She saw a twitch, a flick of the tail, and then a splash as the mermaid disappeared into the murky depths.

Behind her were several footsteps hastily coming up the boardwalk, calling her name. She stood up and turned to face them, finding that a group of men had followed after her, including the auctioneer and the dockhand.

“Excuse me, err, Miss—“ the auctioneer stammered.

“Akali,” she told him sternly, folding her arms across her chest.

Several voices raised themselves all at once, to chastise her and complain. It very quickly grew on her nerves. “What the hell did you that for?! What kind of Itamae are you, wasting a perfectly good catch. You might as well have given it to someone who actually knows what they’re doing—“

The fisherman who had the audacity, as Akali put it, to speak to her that way needed some shutting up. He was almost immediately cut short by her hand diving for his collar, pulling him down to eye level.

“One more word and I’ll throw you in too,” she hissed. She pushed him back, sending him slinking away toward his peers. “That goes for all of you!” she shouted. The crowd she amassed went rigid with attention, and a tinge of fear. “I won her fair and square and there’s nothing you can do about it. Anybody who comes by my place pointing fingers definitely won’t be leaving with them.”

“Wha?! I can’t—that’s not!” the outspoken one stammered.

“Leave her, Cap’n” said one of his companions, clutching his fingers in one hand, “She ain’t worth it.” A few more voices rose. It seemed he must’ve been the leader. Indignant, he turned, shoving past his cronies, and stormed off the docks, whimpering dockhands trailing behind.

Akali pulled out her pouch of coins. Seeing that the mermaid took most of her fish savings, she simply dropped the money in the hands of the auctioneer. “I paid what I owed, now let me get back to work,” she told him, “Don’t you have an auction house to run?” And then she shoved past him too.

  
  


Akali closed her shop early that day. Deciding it was best to take some extra prep time for tomorrow, especially since she blew most of what she had on saving the mermaid, she figured it was time to bust out the old fishing net.

She went out around twilight with a lantern to where her old fishing boat was moored. It was sunbleached and collecting barnacles, but other than the creaky, weather-worness of it, the boat was functional. When she set out, the pier appeared black against the lanterns of the dock. The horizon was a deep orange with purple hues creeping in as night approached. Most fisherman went out early in the morning, but she recalls some going out at night. There would be fewer out at least, she thought, I don’t need anymore jackass “captains” giving me shit. With the satisfaction of another day spent pissing off men, she cast off.

Once she was far enough away from the shallows, Akali set her net in the ocean. “This is gonna be a long night,” she told herself, leaning against the edge of the boat. She was watching the shadow of the net in the water when she saw it grow darker before her eyes. Akali checked the netting and saw that it was pulled taut. “What the…”

She saw her net sinking deeper and a larger silhouette growing underneath so quickly she rose and attempted to pull the net back in, but it was heavier than she first expected. Leaning over the ship’s edge, and with two hands, she gripped the netting, palms burning, teeth grinding. She clawed her way down the net, like a ladder, until the bulk of it was cresting the edge of the boat, then all at once, the weight of the net gave. Akali pulled the haul on board with a grunt and it flopped onto the deck, squirming, wet, and slimy.

As soon as she secured the load, Akali reached for the lantern, panting. She crouched beside her catch, shining the lantern by her head to observe. She saw what felt like a whole reef-worth of fish, different varieties, many good for sashimi, but what really caught her eye was how still they all were. Their mouths were agape, gills flapping silently, yet they all sat so perfectly still. Akali watched one that managed to slide out between a gap in the netting simply lay on the the deck. Leaning even close, she saw its eyes, clouded over. “Bad fish,” she said, “Poor guy’s dying or sick.” But then she checked the rest of them, choking on air. Their eyes were glazed as well, and the more she looked, she began to notice a tinge of magenta swirling in them, but she brushed this off as the sunset and lamplight.

Akali went to pick up the load and pull it away from the edge of the boat when she felt a prick in her palm as she reached for the net. Picking up the lantern again, she searched the haul and realized that there were spines jutting out of otherwise regular fish. She plucked one spine to look at it closer. It was a deep purple that faded to an illuminescent pink toward the tip and dripped with an inky liquid that flowed thickly like molasses.

She was about to lean in to smell it, even though she knew it wasn’t smart but something about it tickled her nose, when she heard a splash over the edge of the boat. Out of the corner of her eye were swirling tyrian lights under the hull of her fishing boat. Akali glanced at the spine before flicking it overboard. She leaned over the edge and called out to the ocean, “Erm, hello? Miss?”

Only a wayward seagull heeded her call, but the lights continued to twirl. Akali tried again.

“Thank you for the haul but,” she glanced at the stack, “I can’t serve people poisoned fish.”

Akali, watching the water, saw two yellow lights appear in the dark. Then she heard a lilting, melodic voice: “Then why don’t you serve me?”

A head rose out of the water, accompanied by slender shoulders and a graceful neck. There she was, staring back with two eyes glowing like embers, a face bathed in pale moonlight.

Chuckling, Akali rested her arm on the edge of the boat. “You again,” she said cooly, “How are you feeling?”

“Much better thanks to you,” the mermaid told her.

“Did you do this?” She hooked a thumb over the load sitting calmly beside her.

“I wanted to thank you for saving my life.” Her voice was soft, ethereal.

Akali grinned, crescent-shaped dimples forming in her cheeks. “It’s not a problem. I’m sorry you had to be caught by jackasses.”

The mermaid laughed. Something about it sounded like a goddess. Maybe it was the way her laughter rang clear like a bell out on the open ocean. Whatever it was, Akali felt inclined to hear more of it.

“Care to come up?”

The mermaid put a hand on the hull of the boat. “Maybe not tonight, love. I feel weak.”

“Huh. I guess those guys did a number on ya. I’ll ruffle ‘em up in your name if you want.” Akali made a show of rolling up her sleeve to show off her muscles.

There, again, was that laugh. “Don’t worry about them. They shouldn’t be bothering me anytime soon.”

“Well, just in case, if I did have to throw a punch or two, what’s your name?”

The mermaid’s eyes flashed gold. “You can call me Evelynn, darling.”

“Evelynn.” Akali let the name grace her tongue. It fit so easily. It sounded like a song. “I’m Akali.”

Evelynn repeated her name as well, as if they were both testing the waters, familiarizing themselves with these new words. “Can you come again tomorrow night? I want to see you again, Akali.”

Akali shifted, resting both of her arms on the balcony now. “Sure thing. But how will I find you?”

“You don’t need to worry about that. I will come find you instead. Just bring your net with you. From now on, I will make sure you never leave the sea with an empty net.”

“Are the fish safe to eat?”

“Sure. They can’t hurt anyone.” Evelynn added, “Oh, and make sure to bring some silverware.”

“For what?”

“For dinner, darling,” and then she sank beneath the waves, as quietly as she came, leaving Akali with a grand haul of fish and the soft yet moving notion that all of this had been a dream.


	2. Part II - Answering Her Call

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Itamae returns to the ocean for a dinner with the Siren. 
> 
> (Otherwise known as Akali goes on her first date ever with a literal sex demon)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Minor warning for mentions gore at the end of the chapter but I didn't make it very descriptive.

For the first time ever, the Itamae had no need to wake up early and scour the market for fish, thanks to the plentiful catch Evelynn bestowed on her from last night. But old habits die hard and, if anything, Akali found she enjoyed her usual morning routine of visiting the old ladies in the marketplace.

“Good morning, Akali!” It was the old woman from yesterday, beckoning her over.

“G’morning, miss,” greeted Akali.

“Did you visit the auction house at all yesterday? She was there!”

“Who?”

“The Siren!”

“Oh, right.” She thought back to the auction house, the scene at the docks, fishing at night. “Yeah, I did see her. She was beautiful, like a goddess,” was all she told her.

“Lucky you! I wish I could’ve made it, but I was too late. That old coot across the way was distracting me with some other nonsense.” The old woman pointed to the vegetable seller across the street. She was busy haggling with a young man over tomatoes.

“Miss, isn’t that your wife?” Akali asked cautiously.

“Of course, which means I reserve the right to say whatever I want about her.” She added, very loudly, for the other woman to hear, “Isn’t that right, you old coot?”

The vegetable merchant stopped speaking to her customer to yell from across the way, “What did you say?”

“I said,” she shouted, “‘Isn’t that right, you old coot?!’”

“WHAT?”

“I SAID--”

“I’M GONNA GO,” Akali told the old woman. It was probably for the best, she didn’t want to lose more of her hearing than she just did.

“OKAY, BYE AKALI.”

“BUH-BYE, AKALI! COME VISIT ME NEXT TIME!”

Sheepishly, Akali wandered away from the bickering wives, hands in her pockets, off to explore other stalls. Even while she wasn’t shopping, she was doing calculations in her head, not that she had any money to act on them. But she couldn’t help it. It seemed her life had changed overnight. With Evelynn providing her with fish, she no longer had to worry about buying directly from the market. She could expand her business, that is, if the mermaid could keep to her word. But even if she couldn’t, there was giddiness in her step and Evelynn becoming her new business partner felt like the least of her concerns.

At least, until she found a hand over her mouth and an arm yanking her backwards into an alley.

Nobody seemed to notice, even in the lethargic marketplace. Perhaps it all happened too quickly; Akali barely had time to struggle or shout. Whoever assaulted her wasn’t very aggressive. Their grasp dove lightning quick over her but it was as if they took her momentum and redirected it, like they convinced her body to come with them.

Akali fell back like a brick, caught off-guard, and stumbled into the alley. As she was tossed into the dirt, she was balling up her fists, ready to whip around, but then she heard a familiar voice.

“Akali, what are you doing out in broad daylight? It’s not safe for you--”

“Kennen?” She rolled over and sat up. “What are you doing here?”

Kennen shushed her. “Listen to me,” he hissed. His small form crouched beside her. “The Kinkou got word that someone is after you.”

“What, why?”

“Quiet!” He glanced over his shoulder. The marketplace was slowly awakening with noise and chatter. Kennen turned back to Akali, pulling down his mask. “Have you angered anybody recently?”

It didn’t take long for Akali to name somebody. “Some douche Captain from the auction house. Why?”

“Did he have a metal arm?”

“Huh?”

“What did he look like?” Kennen asked hastily, “Did he have a metal arm?

“I dunno, I didn’t look at him long enough. He pissed me off.”

“Akali, what did you do?”

“This jackass was trying to tell me what to do, so I told him and his crew off.”

Kennen groaned, putting his face in his hands. “Akali,” he said, “You threatened Gangplank.”

“What? You mean the ‘Captain Gangplank’? I thought he was dead.”

“So did we, but he’s survived and now he’s trying to rebuild his fortune, and his crew.”

“Hmph. That explains why he was pissed I threw his catch into the ocean. He probably wanted to kill me and steal my money after I got it.”

“I don’t think he’d do it himself.”

“Why not?” Akali asked, “That’s his style, isn’t it?”

“Not anymore,” Kennen told her, “Not since he lost everything to a bounty hunter. He’s been laying low it seems. But he’s only part of why I’m here.”

“What is it then?”

“He’s hired someone after you.”

“Kennen, just tell me who--”

“It’s Jhin!”

Akali paused, aghast. “He escaped?” she asked carefully.

“He was released. Ionia let him go and turned him into a weapon.” He was whispering frantically now. Akali had never seen him this upset.

“Bastards,” she swore under her breath.

“Please, Akali, come back to the Kinkou. It’s not safe! Not even Shen--”

“Shen and I have different methods of dealing with scum like Jhin. I can handle myself.”

Akali began to get up but Kennen tugged on her garb. “No, Akali, you don’t understand--”

“I do, Kennen. I do understand.” She shrugged him off and stood up. “I’m not going back. I’m sorry.”

Kennen said nothing, but pulled up his mask over his snout. Akali could only see his eyes, conflicted and clouded, trying to think of what to say. “Come to my place if you ever want sashimi sometime, yeah?” But Kennen never responded; she knew he never would. He disappeared deeper into the darkness of the alleyway and she into the morning light of the market.

  
  


When dusk finally came, Akali closed up shop. Her stock of fish was still pretty decent by the end of the day but in all honesty, fishing was the last thing on her mind when she cast off from the harbor. The further she was from the docks, the heavier her net grew until the rope was pulled taut and she could barely see the faint, hazy glow of lanterns on the horizon.

She tugged on the net, the slippery rope making her hands raw, the salt of the ocean making her skin sting, and as she hoisted the haul onto the deck, she saw those familiar magenta lights swirling in the depths.

And then a head rose out of the water.

“It’s you again,” Akali called, securing the net.

“I told you I could find you,” she replied.

“Well, you weren’t wrong.” Akali leaned over the edge, smiling, held up by her forearms. “Are you hungry?”

“Starving.”

“Come on up then.”

Evelynn giggled holding out a hand. “Help me!”

After hauling the fishing net, pulling up a woman felt a bit easier. Akali gripped Evelynn’s hand with both of hers and pulled her out of the water; with her free hand, Evelynn held the ledge and hoisted herself up. As if in one fluid movement, Evelynn was pulled out of the ocean, plopping onto the edge of the boat.

Evelynn sat up, elegantly straight, with her tail hanging over the waves. She gathered up her onto one side and began wringing it dry, smiling cheekily at Akali over her shoulder.

“You’re strong,” she purred.

Akali chuckled, rubbing the back of her neck. “I, uh, work out,” she said, “Or I used to. Not so much anymore with the sashimi shop.” Her eyes darted between her glowing, amber eyes, her skin bathed in moonlight, and the fishing net.

“Are you...cold, at all?”

“Hm?”

She tried not to look at her too directly, but her eyes flickered briefly at her bare chest. “I can get you a jacket if you...y’know...want to cover up?”

The mermaid burst out laughing. “Aw, you’re embarrassed!”

“N-no, I just thought--”

“You’re so cute,” she interrupted, taking Akali’s hand into hers and pulling her closer, “It’s okay. You can admit it.”

Akali said nothing. She stared down at Evelynn’s hand, noticing the grand arc of her nails which glittered gold. The tips, pointed enough that they could aptly be called claws, delicately brushed Akali, her skin raising into goosebumps and making her tingle. In between her fingers was a translucent webbing, tinted pink. It felt smooth and rubbery, like a dolphin. But most important of all, her skin was soft. Not scaly, not wrinkled despite the salt water. Just soft.

Evelynn squeezed her hand and leaned in. In a low, sultry voice, she whispered, “It would be a sin to cover up something so beautiful, wouldn’t it, darling?”

Akali swallowed, not knowing how to respond. She slid out of Evelynn’s grip, clearing her throat. “Are you hungry?” she asked, her voice thin, “We have a lot of fish. Got a favorite?”

The Siren was off-put at first. Then Evelynn combed her nails through her hair, parting it in two behind her neck and draping it over her breasts without saying anything more. “You pick, Akali,” she told her simply, smiling, “You are the chef after all.”

Something in the gentle way she said her name assuaged any fear that she may have offended the mermaid by denying her advances, however forthright they may be. The Itamae eyed the haul before pointing out an albacore to Evelynn.

“No spines this time,” Akali remarked.

“I have my methods,” Evelynn told her. “You have a good taste in fish.”

The Itamae chuckled as she searched for a chopping knife and a whetstone in her fishing case. “I’ve been doing this for a while now,” she explained.

“How long?”

“At least a few years. Kind of lost track.” She brought out a wooden chopping board with the knife and whetstone sitting on top and placed it beside Evelynn. “Do you want to learn how to prepare sashimi?”

“Hmm. I want to watch you do it,” she said.

Akali smiled at the ground for a moment before saying, “At least let me show you how to scale and fillet a fish.”

Evelynn laughed, tossing her head back. “Alright then, Itamae. Demonstrate.”

Akali plucked the albacore from the pile and laid it on the chopping board. “So, scaling a fish is pretty easy. You just hold it by the tail and drag the knife up to the head,” she scraped the knife up the body, collecting silver scales on the edge of her blade, “and they flake right off.”

“I see.”

“Would you like to try?” Akali held out the knife to Evelynn. She considered the fish for a moment before taking it from the Itamae’s hand.

“No need,” she told her as she took one of her long, golden claws and began to clean off what was left.

Akali watched her fall into a sort of rhythm, a couple of delicate scrapes before flicking off the residue into the ocean. “You’re a natural,” she remarked.

Evelynn smiled. “In a way, this is sort of relaxing.”

“Really? I thought it might be a little morbid, seeing as you’re...y’know--”

“Part fish? I suppose,” she sighed, “But I’m not just some tuna, Akali, I’m a predator.”

Akali nodded. “I guess that’s true.” She took the fish from Evelynn’s hands and turned it over before handing it back to her. “Don’t forget to get the other side.”

Evelynn clicked her tongue. “So you’re okay with gently brushing your hand against mine, but don’t have the courage to hold it?” she said, half-jokingly.

“It’s not you,” she told her, suddenly interested in her reflection in the knife. “I...am just realizing I don’t really have...flirting experience?” She said it like a question, but there was no questioning her awkwardness and Evelynn knew this.

Her scaling slowed, letting her claw tip trail along and poke at loose fish scales. “Oh, I understand now. You’re adorable!” she squealed, “You’re like a baby!” She put the fish down in her lap, but kept a firm grip on its head. “I’m sorry if I came on too strong earlier.” With a chuckle, she added, “Usually that method works.” Evelynn watched Akali’s expression and laughed.

“Shut up,” she shot back, but she was laughing too, “Is that fish scaled yet?”

“What do you think, Itamae?”

Evelynn passed over the fish which Akali inspected both sides. Holding the fish by the tail, she pointed the head at Evelynn and, with her knife, flicked a couple of scales in her direction. “Missed a spot.” She was grinning now, dimples like crescent moons on either side of her smile.

“What next?”

“Okay, this is how you fillet a fish. I feel like you might enjoy this part. Your claws would be good for picking out all the little bones.”

“Oh? Go on…”

  
  


The deck came alive with the smell of searing fish under lamplight. Evelynn sat on the edge of the ship, head bent back, looking up at the darkened sky. Over the the sizzle of the pan Akali could hear humming, clear and light, and when it stopped, her ears burned for more.

“What’s that song?” she asked over her shoulder.

“A sea shanty,” Evelynn called back, “I learned it from sailors.”

“It sounds sad. But also beautiful.”

“I suppose it does when I sing it,” she noted wistfully.

Akali glanced up briefly as she moved the hot pan to the counter. Evelynn’s back was to her, bare and naked. With her eyes, Akali traced up and down her spine, drinking in the soft glow of moonlight reflecting off of her, from between her delicate shoulder blades down her spine to her lower back where her skin gently transitions into fuschia scales. In an ironic way, from what the legends say about her, the Siren responsible for luring and killing hundreds of men looked angelic.

“Like what you see?,” Evelynn called, turning her head toward her. Akali’s gaze quickly darted back to the sashimi slowly cooling in the pan.

“I didn’t mean to stare,” she said as she plated the fish.

Evelynn laughed, “Sure you did.” Akali only grew redder, her face looking orange in the yellow lamplight. Looking back up at the sky, she asked, “Is the food almost done?”

“Yes, just one final touch. Don’t look!”

She giggled and for someone with her “femme fatale” reputation, Evelynn found it odd. She heard shuffling behind her, soft thuds and footfalls. Then finally, Akali told her, “Okay, you can look now.”

This is gonna be cute, Evelynn thought to herself.

She turned, a sort of smugness in her expression which melted into surprise.

The Siren was right, but she underestimated the Itamae.

Gravely underestimated.

There stood the Itamae, kneeling over a lantern with a candle lit inside, illuminating her face with a soft glow as she set down one big plate of sashimi on top of a woven blanket. Noticing Evelynn’s face, she smiled, sheepishly. “Too much?” she laughed.

“No, no, not at all,” she replied, her voice breathy with surprise. “This is lovely.”

Akali stood up and approached Evelynn with arms outspread. “May I?”

Evelynn swung her tail over the edge to face the Itamae. “Please.”

Akali slid her arms underneath the mermaid’s tail as Evelynn clung to her shoulders, cheeks brushing briefly. Evelynn found herself unable to keep from smiling, especially with Akali so near. Carefully, the Itamae turned around with the Siren in her arms, wobbling ever so slightly under her weight.

“Don’t worry,” she said when Evelynn’s grip tightened. “I wouldn’t let you fall.”

“I should hope so!”

Slowly, the Itamae brought the mermaid over to the blanket. But just before they arrived, Evelynn felt her hold slip and dug her claws into the Itamae’s garb before she could hit the ground. Akali laughed, holding her securely once more. “Just kidding. I got you.”

“Rude!” Evelynn shot back, but she was giggling along with her. “Did you just drop me?!”

“I would never,” she replied, cheeky.

The mermaid scoffed. “And here I was, about to tell you how fit you are.”

Standing over the blanket, Akali said, “I could drop you, right here and now.”

“You wouldn’t.” The mermaid was looking her in the eye, sharing a strong, challenging gaze, noses just mere inches away from each other.

“You’re right,” Akali told her, slowly descending to one knee and resting the mermaid on her thigh. “I would never want to ruin such a good plate of sashimi.”

“Hmph!”

Gently, Akali moved Evelynn from her lap and set her down on one side of the blanket. Akali sat across from her, with the plate of sashimi and the lantern between them. Each one saw the other bathed in a warm, yellow glow. The Itamae sat on her feet, posture straight and stiff. Evelynn, sitting with her tail strewn to the side, supporting herself with one arm, couldn’t help but notice.

“This is your first date, isn’t it?”

“...No.”

“Akali, don’t lie to me.”

“I’m not!” she insisted, “My first date was when I was 13…”

“Ah, I see,” the mermaid mused. “And you haven’t had a date since then.”

She didn’t answer.

“You don’t have to be so formal, Itamae. Sit however makes you comfortable.”

“O-okay.” She sat back and crossed her legs, resting her elbows on her knees. “Is this better?”

“You tell me.”

Akali nodded. “Yeah. It feels a little better.”

“Don’t be so nervous!” Evelynn giggled, reaching over running her claws through her ponytail.

Akali dropped her head, chuckling to herself, before looking back up and saying, “Sorry. Inexperienced.”

“It’s alright,” Evelynn told her, “We can change that.

Akali found her words stuck in her throat, looking for something to say. “Well, um, we might as well dig in.” The Itamae reached down and grabbed a pair of chopsticks resting on the edge of the plate. “Have you ever used these?” she asked.

Evelynn eyed them curiously. “Never,” she replied coolly.

“Oh, well, it’s pretty simple.” Akali demonstrated by picking up a piece of sashimi with her the chopsticks and raising it to her lips. “See? Easy,” she said and popped the fish sliver in her mouth.

The mermaid blinked. “Seems unnecessary,” she shrugged. She reached over, stabbed her claw into the closest piece, and hooked her finger. She held the sliver of fish in between her index and thumb claws and sucked the meat from her nails into her mouth, and Akali watched the whole display, following the fish rise from the plate to her lips.

Evelynn hummed with delight. “This is good!” she remarked in between chews, “You’re talented, Itamae.”

“I’m glad you like it. I’m still learning, I have a ways to go.”

“Really? I would’ve thought you were an experienced chef.” Evelynn reached for another slice of fish, spearing it with her claws. “Are you sure were tasting the same plate?”

Akali laughed, “Pretty sure. This must be your first time trying sashimi.”

Evelynn leaned across the blanket, holding the piece up to Akali’s mouth, grinning widely, giggling behind her fangs. “Try it, Itamae, and tell me it’s not the most delicious dish you’ve ever cooked!”

Akali went cross-eyed staring at the meat under her nose. “Uh-uh-uh!” Evelynn scolded, a bit too joyfully when she reached with her hand. The mermaid pulled the fish back for a moment, leaning in to whisper, “Use your mouth.”

Her cheeks flushed as she realized what she was asked to do. Her fingers were twitching anxiously so she made fists and pushed them into their lap, sitting straighter than before. Evelynn put the fish up to her lips again, the flesh pink and tender.

“Gentle now, darling,” she whispered, earning a brief, hot, embarrassed gaze from Akali. Carefully, she leaned closer, parting her lips as she approached. She hesitated before opening her mouth, unconsciously curling her lips back to show her teeth as she gingerly bit into the corner of the slice and pulled back, part of the meat hanging out of her mouth. She sucked it in with a slurp, staring intently at the plate between them.

Evelynn was giggling, trailing a claw along her bottom lip. “You are just the cutest. That wasn’t so bad, now, wasn’t it?”

Without answering or even a glance, Akali took the chopsticks, plucking a piece of sashimi from the dish, and held it out in front of Evelynn right under her nose. Evelynn eyed the fish with a cocked brow before smiling at the Itamae with delight.

Akali gestured to the fish. “Well? Aren’t you gonna take it?”

“With pleasure,” she purred.

Evelynn was deliberate, leaning in, flashing the pink of her tongue as she opened her mouth and took the meat in, closing her lips over the chopsticks and sucked the fish from between them, matching Akali’s gaze the whole time, even while she chewed.

She swallowed then said, “Not bad, Itamae.”

Not realizing she had been holding her breath this whole time, Akali sighed heavily and hung her head. “You’re a real piece of work, Evelynn, you know that?”

Evelynn laughed, on the verge of cackling. “Of course I do,” she said, “But you’re just so wonderful to tease!”

“You mean easy.” Akali chuckled and sat up. “I guess I am. This is a first date after all. Can’t blame myself for being awkward.”

“You haven’t been awkward,” Evelynn told her, “You’ve been perfectly bashful.”

“Jeez, you say that like you enjoy seeing me flustered.”

“Who said I didn’t?”

Akali clicked her tongue. “Are you good on sashimi, Evelynn?”

“Absolutely satisfied,” she replied, almost catty.

“Then I’ll take the dish and save the rest for later,” she said, moving to get up.

“Wait,” Evelynn told her, “I want to try those...whatever they’re called.”

“What, the chopsticks?”

“Mhm.”

“Alright then.” Akali sat back down again. “Didn’t think you’d be interested.”

Evelynn was sitting straighter now, almost looking eager to learn. “I’m interested if it’s you that’s teaching me.”

“Hah. Well, you’ve come to the right place. I’m a professional at consuming good food with chopsticks!”

Akali positioned the pair of chopsticks in one hand and sheepishly held out her free hand. “Uh, may I?”

Evelynn held out her hand, placing it delicately on Akali’s palm. She watched as the Itamae guided her fingers into a proper chopstick hold, gently telling her, “Okay, so you put this finger here and hold the sticks between here and...there! That’s how you hold chopsticks!”

The mermaid looked at her hand which, to her, felt somewhat contorted in an unnatural fashion. She never held anything with this intricate method before. She was pinching the chopsticks tightly together, trying to avoid the curvature of her own nails, but it was awkward.

“If you wanna move them, just move your fingers like this.” She gently wedged her fingertips under the grasp of her claws, moving her fingers for her. Evelynn tried it on her own slowly.

“This feels...strange.”

“Yeah, that’s usually what foreigners say when they learn. If you’ve been doing it since you were little, it’s second nature.” Akali pushed the plate closer to Evelynn and scooched up. “Try to grab a piece,” she said, grinning.

Evelynn looked uncertain, but said, “Alright,” and she slowly reached for a piece of sashimi. She clamped the chopsticks down the middle, crushing and contorting the otherwise proportionate sliver, then carefully lifted it from the plate.

“Yeah, that’s a start,” Akali told her. “Okay, now feed me!” Akali opened her mouth wide, the corners uplifted as she tries to keep from laughing.

Evelynn moved the sashimi towards Akali, concentrating on gripping the fish with the two chopsticks. It wasn’t until the last moment, as the sashimi was close to touching her lips, that Evelynn squeezed the meat too hard and the chopsticks twisted in her hand. The sashimi flicked upwards, hit Akali’s nose before she could react, and then fell limply in her lap.

“Oh no, Akali, I didn’t mean to!” the mermaid gasped, but Akali was laughing, wiping her nose with the back of her hand. She picked up the mangled sashimi and popped it back in her mouth.

“That was a good first try,” she said through a full mouth, “You were good up until the end!” She picked up another piece with her fingers and ate that too. “I think that’s enough sashimi, yeah?”

Evelynn nodded, giggling to herself as she brushed some hair away from her face. “Again, I’m sorry for hitting you in the face with a piece of raw fish. That’s not very attractive.”

Akali moved the plate off the blanket so that now only the lantern was between them. “Nah, don’t worry about it. I kind of expected something like that to happen,” she said, “Besides, a lot of little kids drop their food their first time.”

“Stop, you’re making me feel worse!” Evelynn laughed.

“This sort of thing doesn’t happen on a first date?”

“No, not at all!” Evelynn cried, “I thought humans have a nice dinner and look at the stars or something and then they kiss.”

It suddenly hit Akali: She wanted to have dinner with me.

She wanted to look at the stars with me.

She wanted to kiss me.

I didn’t think I could do that with anyone.

“Wait,” Akali said slowly, “Haven’t you gone on a date? You seem so...confident.”

Evelynn put a claw on her lip, thoughtfully. “No, actually, I haven’t,” she said, “I’ve had flings but...all my exes are dead.”

“Shit.” Akali chuckled, “You’re not gonna kill me too, are you?”

“Of course not, darling. You are far from a ‘fling’.”

“Cool, cool.” Akali glanced at the moon, high in the sky, thinking of how much time she had left before she had to go back. “I hate to be the first to say this but, I think we should be wrapping up soon.”

“I see,” Evelynn said slowly.

Akali hesitated a moment before whispering, slowly, “Do you...want to skip the stargazing for tonight? I have to get going soon--”

“Come here already,” Evelynn told her.

Akali went quiet, realizing that Evelynn had been staring at her intently and figured it was time to stop talking. Her eyes seemed to brighten to a warm gold color, like the flame between them casting dancing shadows across their faces. Without another word, Akali slid closer, not daring to break eye contact. Her gaze only flickered once and it was as Evelynn’s hand moved to caress her cheek and let her claws comb through her hair, smoothing her flyaway hair strands. She was careful, soft. It was the most gentle she had ever been with another human. For a famed man-eater, that said enough.

She let her claws trace along Akali’s jawline and under her chin, using the side of her thumb to press on her bottom lip as if to test its softness. Akali lowered her gaze, following back to Evelynn’s own lips, moist, glistening with desire in the lamplight. She felt a squeeze in her chest and realized she hadn’t taken a breath since Evelynn told her to come closer.

Her thumb was still massaging her lip.

“Evelynn,” she whispered shakily.

“Yes, my love?”

“Quit teasing me.”

Evelynn couldn’t respond. Akali had moved with such a speed, taking her by the shoulders and pulling her in with such fervor that her mouth was quickly occupied. Their lips smashed together at first contact, almost enough to hurt, like a pinch, but neither of them cared. Neither wanted to break the rough, fast rhythm of the kiss. Evelynn cupped her cheeks in her palms, her claws reaching to the back of Akali’s head, to bring her even closer, if such a thing were even possible. Akali’s grip seemed to slip as her lips, the corners of her mouth, became wet with spit and the sound of their lips parting and pushing, sucking and sliding against one another’s, became moist and soppy.

The mermaid broke briefly for air, the Itamae’s lips trailing on hers as she spoke.

“You’re sloppy,” she whispered.

“It’s my first time. Sorry.”

“Don’t apologize. I can teach you.”

“Please. Teach me..”

Evelynn slid her hands behind Akali’s neck, under her ears, and pulled her back in. Old habits die hard and she couldn’t help but tease her with a flick of her tongue brushing against Akali’s lips. Then she tilted her head so that the corners of their lips aligned more or less, opening her mouth like the grandest gates of heaven so that her tongue could lunge for Akali’s own. And once they made contact, Akali jumped and widened her mouth to press closer. Evelynn could feel Akali’s lips slide away from her as she opened her mouth too widely and approached with too much teeth, but she didn’t stop to tell her. To her, this amateur move was charming.

She snaked her hands down the back of her neck, letting her claws lead down the back of shoulders, between her shoulder blades, and down her spine. Akali shivered under her touch despite it being done through her clothing, made a noise that was a mix between a giggle and a sigh, a moan, and Evelynn too felt herself tingle with satisfaction. Akali’s hands meandered and settled underneath Evelynn’s ribs, below her gills, as if to support the mermaid as she rose over her. Evelynn was clearly leading and Akali was too weak under her touch to care.

The mermaid was looming over the Itamae now, bring her seeking mouth up to hers, gasping as if for her very touch, until she reached too far and Akali felt herself lose balance. In a hot, writhing heap they fell. Akali’s back hit the blanket, rattling the lantern, but it didn’t faze her. She could taste Evelynn’s breath now, the salt of the ocean and the sashimi. The mermaid was the one who broke first.

“Don’t get carried away now, Itamae.”

“I should say the same for you.”

“You have to work in the morning, don’t you.”

Akali lightly kissed her lips. “Sadly.”

“As much as I love this, you should go. It’s getting late.”

“I’m not a child, Evelynn, I’ll be fine.”

“I know, my love. But I’ll see you again tomorrow night.”

“Fine.”

They shared one last kiss before Evelynn rolled off of her, smoothing out her hair over her breasts again. Akali wiped the saliva away from her chin with her sleeve, laughing. Carefully, she picked up the mermaid and brought her to the edge of the boat.

“You’re not going to throw me away again, are you?” she said slyly.

“Evelynn,” Akali told her, “you are the catch of my life.”

“Ouch. How long have you been sitting on that one?”

“Since I started cooking dinner.”

Evelynn playfully slapped her shoulder. “That was horrible.”

Akali shrugged. “I know.”

She pecked her cheek. “Good night, Akali.”

“Good night, Evelynn.”

She set the mermaid down on the balcony and watched her dive into the black ocean, a fading magenta light being swallowed by the murky depths.

  
  


Akali returned from the ocean absolutely giddy, and grateful that nobody was around at the wharf to see the otherwise stoic Itamae skip back to her shop where she lived.

She threw her door open and turned on the lights, but stopped dead in her doorway.

Kennen was right. Jhin’s message was waiting for her.

She found her lobby desecrated. All of the leftover fish, beheaded and gutted and smeared everywhere. They stained everything, her floor, her wall, her furniture, a faded red. The blood was old. This had been here for a long while.

Akali glanced one more time outside before carefully closing her door, double checking the various locks she had set up. Nothing seemed to be broken or forced. He didn’t come in through this way.

She couldn’t help but stare at the carnage, grotesque and inhuman, for a while longer until she realized what she was looking at: a deadly lotus flower, traced out in gore on her carpet.

She tiptoed past the dark omen, leaving her fishing net in the hallway, and ran for her own room.

“Fuck!”

She saw a window was open and slammed it shut, closing her blinds immediately after. She threw open the door to her closet and began to dig, until she felt a handle, cold and metal. She pulled out a pair of blades, a kama and a kunai.

Akali rolled her wrists, holding one in each hand, testing its weight.

Both weapons felt instantly, grimly familiar.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading and especially for being so patient!!!!!! <3
> 
> AO3 Hiatus:https://eramia.tumblr.com/post/183201245185/fic-and-zine-update
> 
> tl;dr I won't be posting on AO3 for the rest of the month to catch up on zine work! Unfortunately that means the finale won't come til April. I'll keep posting snippets and previews of my work on Tumblr, so I won't be completely gone! And I'll respond to any comments or questions.
> 
> Once again, I appreciate your support!


	3. Part III - What This Will Cost

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Having received Jhin's calling card, Akali goes to the Kinkou for some advice, but when none is offered, she makes a risky move to do what's best for Evelynn.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The violence in this chapter is a little worse than the last chapter, but I don't think I linger too longer. However I am adding the graphic violence tag just in case, as well as the major character death tag because of a new plot development.
> 
> Hopefully the bonus scene at the end will lighten things up! ^^" Please, enjoy!

“Let’s see if I can still do this.”

There was no way fast enough to reach the Kinkou Order headquarters from the small seaside town that Akali currently resided in. She had no other way to get there and no traveling cart could carry her up the mountain. With no choice, she called upon an old power she learned from her time with the order: the ability to recall.

As the name suggested, she had to recall the place in her mind but in excruciating detail, much like astral projection but physical: the taste of the mountainous air, smell of trainee sweat, the thumps of attacks landing on dummies, conversations, the agitation she felt with Shen, the laughter she experienced with Kennen. All of it.

She assumed the channeling position and it was as if a fire were lit at her feet, engulfing her with warmth and yellow light. She felt it lifting her up, her ponytail whipping around her head, the light blinding her until everything suddenly went cool.

The mountain wind was tousling her hair, chilling her skin, even though the fire was not real. When she opened her eyes, she was in the courtyard just outside the front gate. And because of its remote location, this sanctuary remained opened.

Akali wandered through, briefly glancing about for any sign of people but she noticed none. The training dummies were left scarred and lonely. Nothing but air moved the dust. It wasn’t until she approached the main dojo that she heard conversation and as she grew closer she could see the crowd gathered at the wooden steps.

And on the patio was Shen, sitting in a comfortable lotus position.

He goes quiet as he notices Akali, and the crowd he is speaking to follows his gaze. Soft murmurs arise but not unkind ones, and a single, scratchy familiar voice rises above them all.

“Akali!”

Splitting off from the crowd was Kennen sprinting toward her, his mask tucked beneath his chin. “You came!” He slid to stop right before her feet. He came up to her thighs at most, as most yordles do.

But Akali paid him little mind, continuing past him and towards the patio deck.

“Akali, you have returned, “ Shen noted. Akali knew him to be rather stoic but even she could sense his surprise.

“I’m just here on business,” she told him and rose her voice so that it could resonate throughout the clan.

“Well, you have arrived just on time,” he told her, “We were just discussing our next course of action.

“I have a course of action for you. How about taking down Khada Jhin?”

At the mention of his name, the murmurs arose again, nervous and disturbed.

“Khada Jhin? Who’s that?”

“He was before your time, and Akali’s. He was a notorious serial killer.”

“The old Master, another ex-disciple, and Shen were the three who took him down but he never discusses it.”

“I’ve heard that it changed them all so profoundly, it was like they became opposites.”

“Quiet, please,” Shen called with a wave of his hand. To Akali, he said, “So you have heard of his, err, regretful release, as well.”

“The only thing regretful is that he’s got enough breath to threaten me.”

“It seems we have a common goal. Perhaps we can work together, the Old Way.”

Akali balled up her fists. “The Old Ways don’t work anymore, Shen,” she snarled.

She spun on the crowd, shouting viscerally, spit flying, “The Old Ways couldn’t keep Jhin in prison. The Old Ways let him live.” Under her intense gaze, the Order shifted uncomfortably.

“Akali, stop it,” Shen ordered, “This is not a time to debate about how we operate.”

“Then when, huh?” She turned on Shen now. “When he comes for you? When he comes for me? When he comes for the people we love?!”

In a swift and sudden motion, Shen’s arm lashed out and grabbed Akali’s wrist, taking her by surprise. Before could even process it, Shen had gotten up and was leading her away through a door leading to his private room. Behind them, Kennen had gotten up on the patio, trying to console the crowd.

After shoving Akali through the doorway, Shen slammed the door shut behind him. “You are letting your emotions get the best of you,” he scolded.

“You’re damn right I am,” she shot back, “We can’t just wait for the Universe to work everything out.”

Even under his mask, Akali could see that he was visibly conflicted, and frustrated. “We are not waiting for anyone to solve this for us,” he told her, “But the Kinkou should be the last one to destroy the natural order.”

Akali huffed, brushing back loose strands of hair that tickled her forehead. She couldn’t stand that right now. I need to rethink my method, she thought with a sigh.

“Shen. Shen, please, help me,” she pleaded as he turned away, “Give me something that will let me get the upper hand on this piece of shit. We can’t let him win again.”

“No,” he told her.

“What?”

“I know you will not listen to me, not anymore, but for what it’s worth, I think you should not go alone.”

Akali’s brows furrowed in disbelief. “What makes you think I’m not ready?” she asked. In their minds they laughed, reminiscing on old times where she was once his apprentice.

But that soon passed. He shook his head. “It is not your abilities I doubt, Akali. You are grown and capable.” Shen paused, looking forlorn and hollow. “But I was not ready for what I saw when I was your age.”

He turned over to a memorial shrine upon which incense burned faintly, dusting a picture of a man in light ash. He observed it stoically with his hands behind his back. “My father once said that good and evil are not truths. They are born from men and each sees the shades differently. But what this...man was capable of,” he hissed, “it would change anyone who saw it.”

Shen shifted his gaze to Akali but didn’t make eye contact. “You saw something. That is why you are more...vehement about finding him than usual.”

Akali went cold, suddenly being put on the spot. “He came into my sashimi shop while I was out and...left a calling card. After he gutted all my fish he left a gory lotus bloom painted on my lobby floor.” When he didn’t answer, Akali pressed him for more, “Shen, c’mon. He’s planning to come for me and, and the girl I love. I can’t let him hurt her. I won’t hide.”

Shen squinted at the floor, as if conflicted. “I don’t think you will realize what this will cost you. His carnage is...simply unspeakable.”

“I don’t care, I’ll pay the price. As long as he doesn’t hurt her, as long as our love is the one that wins.”

Akali tried to read him as best she could, but this was an expression of regret and hollowness that she had never seen with him.

“Fine,” she finally said, gruffly, “If you won’t help me, then I better get going, huh.”

She began to head for the door when Shen said, “I don’t hate you, Akali. As much as I...detest your methods, this time, I hope they work.”

Slowly, Akali faced him. “To prune the tree, Shen,” she told him, an old reminder of their duties as part of the Kinkou.

“To watch the stars, old friend.”

  
  


Akali was closing the last cooler out in front of her shop when a raspy, familiar voice read out loud the sign on the door.

“‘Closed for indefinite leave?’ Why, Akali, where are you going?”

“Away, for a bit at least,” she told the old ladies from the market. “There’s somebody I need to take care of.”

“Well, spit it out! Who is it?”

Akali wasn’t given time to answer.

There was a blood-curdling scream not far from the shop. Down the street, people were storming the auction house again.

“What’s this? Another mermaid?” one of the old ladies asked a merchant running away from the market.

“No, Miss! There was a murder, a deadly, gruesome murder! I’ve never seen anything like it...I need to get help!”

“A murder?” the other of the pair asked.

They turned to ask Akali about it but she was gone by the time they turned.

She was already sprinting down the street, leaving her luggage by the front door of her shop. Nobody would go through it, especially if they were all occupied with the auction house.

Again, she was shoving her way to front but she almost wished she didn’t.

There, the auction master was pinned to the wall like a fish mounted on a plaque, chin forced up but jaw hanging slack. He looked almost crucified. And beneath him was dried, crusted blood, like trickling, thin waterfall. But then the blood thickened and it surely couldn’t all be his. That’s Akali realized the streaks she was staring at meant. Backing up, she could see the grotesque message more clearly, from the wispy trails on the wall to the thicker streaks of blood on the ground.

The blood stains weren’t spread by chance. They were painted.

Painted like Evelynn.

The auctioneer seemed tangled in her long hair and moving lower you could see the delicate outline of a face, detailed with fish scales and bones in her eye lashes and lips. She appeared almost beautiful, sleeping. From her ribs bloomed a spiraling lotus flower. Akali almost didn’t realize it, but another lotus was carved into the auctioneer’s chest too, flesh and skin mutilated so it protruded and rose as if sculpted by demonic hands.

Everything was dry. Akali couldn’t bear to think of how long it had been there before it was discovered, how this all happened while she was away at the Kinkou Order, how she couldn’t have stopped it.

So she spared no time for thought. Everybody was preoccupied with the scene of the crime.

Now was the chance to leave before anyone else could get hurt.

  
  


Akali snuck off to the docks and to her luck, no one was there.

Nobody to ask questions, she thought, pulling a mask over her lower face, Just how I like it.

One by one, Akali tossed her belongings, stored in various coolers and satchels, onto the deck of her fishing boat and boarded after the last one was on. I’m going to find her, she thought, I’ll find her and I’ll ask her to run away with me. We’ll sail out to sea, far away from here; Far away from Jhin and Gangplank and anybody who would try to hurt us, and then…

And then we’ll be free from all of this.

She kicked each heavy box with her heel into the closet and turned for the last one when a voice told her, politely, “Leave the weapons, please.”

When she turned, a man in a slick, eel-skin bodysuit and a grey mask like it were carved from stone peeled himself away from the wall like a shadow from darkness.

Akali could hear his breathe hissing behind the mask but his masked lips were closed in a permanent smile, contoured only by dry blood. But she could not meet this politeness equally. She froze, thousands of possibilities running through her head of what to do. He was here, the infamous Golden Demon, right in front of her. She wanted to curse him out, flay him alive, anything--but all fire from her body disappeared when she saw how gangly and ordinary he appeared and it didn’t match the visceral, grotesque acts in her head.

“This is a fishing boat. Only supplies.”

“Don’t play silly with me. I can hear your blades rattling about in there. Throw them over, please.”

Akali didn’t move. The eyes behind the mask squinted. Akali moved slowly, clicking open the cooler. She pulled out her kama and kunai, one in each hand, observing the glinting steel of each.

Then in one lightning-quick move she dashed for Jhin, swinging the kama overhead.

But he was quick and managed to duck. His eyes calculated her movement and he ducked underneath her arm, landing a roundhouse kick to the soft part of her neck. Akali grunted, the noise caught in her throat under Jhin’s foot, and stumbled to the side of the boat, choking, hacking, staring over the edge of the boat at the water at the docks.

“Now, now, that wasn’t in the script,” he sighed, “What a predictable twist.”

He adjusted his mask when he felt a thin, tightrope link chink in the forehead of his beloved mask, a scratch from the kama. How could he not have noticed? What pathetic acting.

Akali glared at him, weapons still in hand. Jhin moved toward her and Akali made another move with the kama but he caught her wrist, twisting the blade out of her hand, making her yell as he threw the blade overboard.

“Uh-uh-uh,” he whispered, “Don’t test me. This is not your spotlight, not yet.”

He wrestled the kama from her other hand and rested the tip between her eyebrows.

“Let me set the stage for you,” he told her quietly, all while dragging the blade across her forehead, with each sentence, carving into her skin, enough to let blood welt up and blossom, “You will take me to the mermaid, I know you have contact with her. You will take us both out to sea and you will make her come onboard. And then, it will be your curtain call.”

He didn’t let Akali answer. She had four cuts on her forehead: three vertical and one diagonal dash through them all. They all stung with the salty air.

“What will you do with her?” she asked. It was the only thing she had managed to say.

He leaned in and whispered, “No spoilers, my dear. It is none of your business. Dramatic irony.”

Jhin grabbed Akali by the cuff of her shirt and tossed her wayside, sending her crashing into the wheel of the ship.

“Well? The stage is set. We’re off.”

It had barely been five minutes and she was already a hostage, not even a worthy opponent. As much as she hated to say it, Shen was right. Akali’s gut twisted. Her throat tingled with the sensation of wanting to throw up, but she swallowed it back. Her brow knotted together so tightly it almost became sore. With Jhin’s eyes on her and his hand on the holster of his gun, Akali dropped the fishing net and set off from the docks, straight into the young afternoon horizon.

  
  


It had been a little while before Jhin had finally stopped breathing down her neck, it felt. He soon left the cabin to stand on the deck, polishing his pistol in the sun.

Akali couldn’t help but watch how obsessed he was with cleaning the gun. Didn’t matter that it wasn’t dirty. Didn’t matter that it wasn’t even used in the scuffle. He seemed insistent on cleaning it. He went over it very careful with a cloth rag four different times until he stopped, seemingly muttering under his breath about perfection.

Meanwhile Akali was praying. She wasn’t very religious but she had hopes. At the moment, she hoped the mermaid wouldn’t notice her passing. Perhaps, she’s asleep. Maybe she couldn’t even come out in the day time. It was a small, futile hope, but it was there.

And just like that it was gone when she noticed the fishing net growing heavy too quickly. And then, in the water, under the highlights of the glistening sun, magenta lights swirled,

To Akali’s breaking heart, Evelynn had arrived.

Jhin entered the cabin, pistol in hand. Akali could hear it crackling with Ionian energy as he came closer. He went behind her again, but instead of jabbing her with the barrel of his gun, he stroked her back up and down, whispering over her shoulder, “Go introduce me to your friend. I hear you make killer sashimi.”

Dreamlike, Akali walked across the deck and stood over the ship’s edge. The sunlight was blinding, but she didn’t dare look away, waiting for Evelynn.

She heard a small splash and leaned over to see her smiling face. “My dear,” she began to say, “what are you--”

Evelynn stopped as Jhin’s shadow loomed over her. She looked at Akali in shock and disbelief, but then she saw the four marks on her forehead, dried blood streaking down her face and staining her mask. Even her eyes appeared stained red, but not from blood.

“Akali? What is going on?”

Jhin said nothing, reveling in the drama of betrayal and hurt.

But he didn’t notice the change in Akali’s eyes.

It was as if her love’s voice woke her up from the dream.

This time it was her turn to truly catch Jhin by surprise. Before he could press the trigger, she dove overboard and into the sea, crashing into Evelynn and forcing her under the waves.

“NO!” Jhin shouted furiously, aiming his gun at the shadows in the water, “NO, NO, NO. THIS WAS NOT A PART OF THE ACT! YOU RUINED IT! YOU RUINED IT ALL!”

Outraged, he fired into the water four times.

  
  


Evelynn could barely process what was happening. One moment, Akali and a strange man were looming over her, the next she is forced underwater. Was it really Akali who dove in?

She opened her eyes and checked. She recognized that spiky ponytail indeed and sighed with relief, letting their combined weight sink deeper.

Evelynn hugged Akali tighter, her head still pounding in her chest, but the Itamae barely reacted. She wasn’t even sure if the pounding were shared or just her own.

Then she noticed the gashes in her back, the holes in her clothing, and the blood blooming upwards like climbing wall flowers.

“Oh, baby, oh, no,” she cried “What happened? Who was he? I don’t understand!”, but her voice was lost in the water.

She felt Akali shift about in her arms, slowly, and felt her lips move against her ear.

“Sorry, baby,” she was trying to say, “I didn’t want you to get hurt.”

“I would’ve done anything to keep him from hurting you,” but the words were drowned out.

Her arms went limp, dangling in the currents. And at that moment, Evelynn, too, began to pray, wrapping her body around the dying Itamae.

“Gods, please, if you are out there, if you can hear me.

“Please, don’t let her die.

“Please.”

  
  


It is said, according to legend, that the Gods heard the Siren’s plea, for it was the first time she found true love in somebody who was supposed to be her opposite and yet was more similar to her than anyone.

And so the sea floor opened with a rumble. Beneath her was a gaping maw of bubbling, prehistoric magma. Knowing that no matter how fast or deep she swam she could never bring the Itamae to the very depths of the ocean where the hot fissures lie, they brought the volcanos to her.

Letting go of the Itamae was the hardest part but some part of her intuition soothed her nerves, like an unseen being placing a hand on her shoulder. The mermaid spared one last glance to her dying lover. Bubbles escaped her lips, her last breath exhaled. Evelynn let her wounded body sink down into the fissure. The heat prevented her from getting any closer, but she couldn’t help but try.

The Itamae’s body sunk and was swallowed by the magma and for a moment, all was silent.

The mermaid watched, and watched, but nothing seemed to happen. The lava bubbled, cooking, but then it slowly seemed to grow, climbing up the walls of the valley carved out by the Gods.

And then a hand reached out.

The mermaid gasped, believing it to be her lover and swam against the rising heat to reach for her, but upon contact, the touch burned intensely and she pulled away.

A moment later another hand appeared, followed by arms gripping the walls, and then pulling herself out was a being who looked very much like Akali but appeared to be sculpted out of magma and flame with curved horns like rings of fire.

The Siren was frightened at first, until they locked eyes and something in those burning embers struck her as familiar.

“Evelynn?”

“Akali? Is that you?”

The Itamae looked at her new infernal form. She felt most comfortable near the lava but when she tried to swim up to meet her lover she found she couldn’t leave the heat for the cool ocean water would put her out.

“Baby, I...I can’t reach you.”

“No...No, no, no!” the mermaid wailed, “I can’t bear to be separated from you.”

And against the current she swam, diving towards the Itamae despite the burns she collected and crashed into her lover’s arms. The Itamae climbed out of the fissure to meet her, moving slower as the rose into the cold waters.

Their embrace burned her greatly and her cool presence made Akali feel numb but despite the pain, neither of them cared. Neither of them could bear to live without the other.

And the Gods realized this.

The legend ends with the mermaid dissipating into seafoam and the new infernal form of the Itamae cooling into rocks. It is said that their love manifested and formed a remote island upon which the boat with the Itamae’s murderer is said to have crashed and died on.

It is made of pure rock, said to represent the sashimi chef. The waves that kiss that rocky shoreline all day are said to represent the mermaid. But the best part of all is that many say if you look at Lovers’ Isle from above, you can trace the outline of the Siren and the Itamae embracing in the mountain ridge of the island.

  
  


“Kai’sa,” Ahri began with a hint of concern in her voice, “as beautiful and...elaborate as that idea is, I don’t think we can make that our next music video.”

“But why not?” she asked, on the edge of whining like a small child. “It’s an artistic masterpiece!” She turned to Evelynn on the couch next to her, nuding her. “Eve, back me up here.”

Evelynn didn’t respond. Her glasses were deeply tinted, obscuring her eyes and the hand resting over her mouth with their elaborate golden claws hid her lower face. But they couldn’t hide her slight whimper and sniffle.

“Eve, are you okay?” Ahri asked.

She inhaled deeply, almost a hissing past the lump in her throat. “Perfectly fine,” she exhaled, reaching for a tissue from the box on the coffee table. “It was just so touching, the way that Siren risked her life for the chef. A-and how she did t-the same!” She was went back to hiding behind the tissue, trying to keep what little composure she had.

Akali came in behind her, setting down a plate of freshly made sashimi on the table along with paper plates and chopsticks. “Not gonna lie, that Itamae sounds pretty bad ass,” she added, taking a seat.

“It would still be an extensive music video,” Ahri argued. “Plus, how would the music fit in? It doesn’t sound very pop at all.”

Kai’Sa pouted. “But I worked so hard on this story.”

Akali reached over and plucked a sliver of sashimi, deftly lifting it to her mouth and slurping it up. “You should make it a novel or something,” she said through a full mouth, “I’d read it.”

“I’d read it too,” Evelynn admitted through her last, shaky exhale.

“Really?”

“In a heartbeat, darling.”

“So will I, although we are still one idea short for our next music video.”

“We’ll think of something,” Akali told her, “But damn, I didn’t spend this long making sashimi just so you can let it go cold. Eat up, Foxy!”

“Okay, okay!” Ahri laughed, grabbing a pair chopsticks, “We can finish discussing after dinner.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading!! I'm glad you all went on this journey with me. I especially love seeing the fanart some people drew! I'm @eramia on tumblr and @mamaeramia on twitter if you'd like to check that out!
> 
> Now for a break...~

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! <3 I don't exactly have an update schedule for this, but hopefully, it'll finish around Valentine's day? This fic is part of an art trade with freelandish (check out their instagram) who made me this beautiful watercolor drawing of Kai'Sa as a fairy from my other fic.
> 
> Follow me on tumblr for updates and more gay nonsense!

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [A Cut Above the Rest](https://archiveofourown.org/works/20478806) by [Eramia](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Eramia/pseuds/Eramia)




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